Blue
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- Mar 19, 2019
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» The Colts last Sunday rolled out their short-yardage package exclusively for quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who ended up playing seven offensive snaps in all against the Green Bay Packers. He first came in on a 3rd-and-2 opportunity in the second quarter and handed off to running back Jonathan Taylor, who got just enough to move the chains. In the third quarter, Brissett came in on 3rd and 3 and handed it off to Jordan Wilkins on the read option for a gain of eight and another first down; Brissett stayed in on the next play and got five yards himself on a running play. Later in the period, the Colts faced 4th and 1 from the Green Bay 46, and Brissett came on to run the trusty quarterback sneak, moving the pile — and then some — to get four yards and improving to 12-of-13 earning first downs on QB sneak plays since Frank Reich began calling offensive plays in 2018. Brissett also got another couple snaps in the fourth quarter as Philip Rivers tried to work his way through a toe injury; Rivers quickly returned and finished out the game.
» Nyheim Hines earned his first-career start at running back last Sunday against the Packers, but it was rookie Jonathan Taylor who ended up getting a bulk of the action, thanks in large part to a tremendous second-half performance. Taylor played 46 offensive snaps in all (55 percent) compared to 29 for Hines (34 percent) and nine for Jordan Wilkins (11 percent), but 31 of Taylor's snaps came over the final two quarters of regulation and overtime, when he combined to carry the ball 15 times for 72 yards (4.8 avg.); Taylor, in all, finished with 22 carries for 90 yards.
» Rookie Michael Pittman Jr. paced the wide receivers in offensive snaps for a second straight week, as he was in for 67 total plays (80 percent), followed by T.Y. Hilton and Zach Pascal (51 plays each), Marcus Johnson (38 plays) and DeMichael Harris (16 plays). Pittman Jr., of course, had three receptions for a team-best 66 yards and his first-career touchdown, a 45-yard catch-and-run play in the first quarter.
» The tight ends once again were a favorite target of Rivers' in the crucial situations last Sunday against the Packers, as Jack Doyle and Trey Burton caught two of Rivers' three touchdown passes on the day. Half of Rivers' touchdown passes this season, seven of 'em, have been to tight ends. Doyle, returning to the lineup last Sunday after missing the Week 10 win over the Titans with a concussion, paced all Colts tight ends with 45 offensive snaps (54 percent), followed by Mo Alie-Cox (43 offensive snaps) and Burton (24 offensive snaps).
» Braden Smith last Sunday saw his streak of 37 consecutive starts at right tackle come to an end no thanks to a thumb injury suffered earlier in the week in practice; during those 37 games, which dated back to Week 5 of the 2018 season, Smith missed just one total offensive snap. It was Le'Raven Clark who got the start in Smith's place at right tackle against the Packers, but the Colts utilized a bit of a rotation at the position with Clark and Chaz Green. In the end, however, Green ended up getting a majority of the snaps at right tackle (62) compared to Clark (22).
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